1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of representing and animating a two-dimensional (2D) humanoid character in a three-dimensional (3D) space, and more particularly, to a method that can represent a 2D humanoid character according to views of the humanoid character taken by a camera in a 3D space and animates the 2D humanoid character according to a procedure of a 3D animation.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art method of making an animation is classified into a 2D animation method and a 3D animation method.
The 2D animation method is based on a 2D cell and the 3D animation method makes an animation by three-dimensionally preparing the animation and rendering the animation.
In the 2D animation method, after a key frame is first set, an original draft is drawn on a paper and the paper on which the original draft is drawn is moved to a cell to complete the key frame. Then, frames are interpolated in a space between the key frames through an in-betweening operation, thereby completing the overall animation.
In the 3D animation method, data are three-dimensionally modeled and a 3D animation is set to the modeled 3D and rendered, thereby completing the animation.
A character animation is an animation having a virtual character moving on a screen. Recently, as a computer graphic technology has been advanced, it has become possible to represent a humanoid character that moves like a human being. The character animation is classified in 2D and 3D character animations.
The 2D character animation is made through the 2D animation method and the 3D character animation is made through the 3D animation method.
The 2D character animation is simple like a conventional cartoon film or a flash animation. The motion of the 2D character animation is exaggerated. However, the motion of the 3D character animation is represented realistically like the human being. Therefore, the 2D character animation is manufactured through a key frame method to be proper to the cell animation. The 3D character animation is manufactured through a combination of a key frame method and a motion capture method.
In the key frame method, key frames are first set and the animation is completed by interpolating frames into a space between the key frames through the in-betweening operation. However, this process must be performed for each articulates of a human being that is an original model of the animation character, many efforts and a lot of time are necessary to produce the animation data. The data quality depends on the skill of a worker.
In the motion capture method for producing the 3D character animation, the data is produced by obtaining the motion like the real human being using an optical, mechanical or magnetic motion capture device. These data are used as the character animation. The motion capture method provides a very natural motion as it uses the motion of the human being as it is. However, since the data capacity is bulky, many efforts and a lot of time are required to post-process, amend, and change the data.
Recently, even when the animation is three-dimensionally produced, it is sometimes still required to represent a texture of the 2D cell animation using a cartoon shading or exaggerated motion. Therefore, a combination use thereof is eagerly required. However, due to the different production processes, it is difficult to use them together, and even when they are used together, it is difficult to utilize their typical advantages.